Variable pitch propeller



Nov. 6, 1951 c. J. GREEN VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER Filed June 7, 1947 INVENTOR. Car/ J Green C M Patented Nov. 6, 1951 UNITED] s-TAT s- PATENT OFFICE l VARIABLE rrron BROPELLER CarlJ.Qreen, an Riagei'renn. a is a 1' Application June 7, 1947, Serial No. 753.28%

This invention relates and apparatus for varyingthe pitch of propellers for aircraft and'the like, and is more particularly concerned with improvements in that class of such apparatus wherein the pitch adjustment of q the propeller blades is obtained solely by .rotational movement, that is, by.means.of shafting and gearing and the like. V

It may be stated generally that allvariable pitch propeller mechanism falling in the class with which this invention is concerned are characterized by the presence of a drive shaft rigidly connected to a source of power, such as an aircraft engine, an adjusting shaft, differential means connecting both of these shafts .tothe propeller to simultaneously drive the same and control the pitch of the blades thereof, and finally adjustable gearing interconnecting the drive shaft and the adjusting shaft, whereby this adjustable gearing providesthe desired control over Although many variable pitch propeller mechanisms of this type operate more or less satisfactorily, they all suffer from several common disadvantages, previously thought to be inherent in this kind of apparatus. a For instance, present devices are generally cumbersome and complicated. Also they are usually difficult to mount and support. Perhaps most important, they are highly unsymmetrical, and because of this, they lack dynamic balance and are subjectto serious vibration. This latter defect. results in many secondary and incidentaldisadvantages among which are increased wear andtear on bearings, gearing, and other movable parts, the requirement for strongerand heavier mounting'arrangements, and the many ill effects which result from the induced vibration in adjoining portionsof the aircraft.

I have conceived that substantially all of these disadvantages of prior art devices could be overcome by subordinating other seemingly more important design considerations to those of obtaining complete symmetry and'dynamic balance in the final apparatus and reducing the rotational moment of inertia to an absolute minimum.

' '3 Claims. (01. re-160.48)

generally to mechanism This has led to almostcomplete reliance on bevel 5 5 2 gearing throughout the apparatus,.and thisiirl turn, has resulted and many othercumulative advantages which will be evident as the aesmp tion proceeds. In particular, the use of be v el gearing has permitted the attainment of variable pitch propeller mechanism wherein there are no normally moving parts which rotate about an axis parallel to, and offset from, themain drive shaft. In this respect myinvention is in marked contrast to prior art apparatus, and from this feature many of the advantages of my invention arise. Accordingly, the general object of my inven ,tionis to provide improvements in that typ e of variable pitch propeller apparatus wherein, the adjustment of the propeller blades is obtai solely by rotational movement.

vA more specific object of myinvention is to provide an improved form of adjustablegearing interconnecting the drive shaft, and the adjustingshaft of a variable pitch propellermecha msm. I a l i v Another object of my invention is'the provision pf variable pitch propeller apparatus whichjs simple, rugged, and compact. V y M Still another object of my invention mm. vide variable pitch propeller mechanism which is characterized by a maximum degree of symmetry and dynamic balance and is subject to re,- ducedvibrational tendencies.

A further objector my invention is the pro vision of a variable pitch propeller mechanism wherein all normally rotating elementshave an axis of spin either coincident with that of the main drive shaft or perpendicular thereto. v

- Other objects and advantagesof my invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: g I 3 Fig. l is anelevation view in section of a preferred embodiment of a variable. pitch propeller mechanism constructed according to -the princi- 3 differential gearing system 3 is conventional and comprises a pair of horizontally spaced bevel gears 4, 4, and, at right angles thereto, a pair of vertically spaced bevel gears 5, 5'. Propeller blades l, I each have a reduced root portion which extends through flanged bearings in hub 2 and are keyed or otherwise rigidly connected to bevel gears 5, 5, respectively. A main drive shaft 6, which will be understood, to be con.- nected to the aircraft engine, is rigidly connected to bevel gear 4' and is rotatably supported at its rightmost extremity in a suitable bearing in huh 2. Rigidly connected to bevel gear 4 is a hollow adjusting shaft 1 surrounding and coaxial with respect to drive shaft 6. Adjusting shaft 1 enters hub 2 through a bearing at the extreme left or hub 2.

shaft fi constituting one input, the rotation of adjusting shaft 1- constituting not er input; the rotation of hub 2" (and thepropeller, as a whole) cpnstitutingone-output: and the rotation of the in idual propeller blades (pitch adjustment) uting another output. As will later be descri ed ndetail; adjusting shaft] is driven from mam drive shaft 6 through an adjustable gear train such that adjusting shaft 1 normally rotates in the same direction and at the same sp e as drive shaft 6. It will be apparent that under such conditions drive shaft 6 and adjusting shaft 1 will cooperate to drive the propeller, as a whole, at a corresponding speed through the interaction of bevel gears 4', 4' and 5, 5, the latter; pair of gears remaining stationary with respect to rotation about an axis along the propeller blades. i

By means of theaforementioned adjustable gea'rtra'in, however, it possible to manually effect an additional arbitrary rotation of adjusts'haft 1, that is, a rotation of adjusting shaft 1 with respect to drive shaft 6, by an amount corresponding to the angular displacement of a manually -controlled cornirol shaft 8. When the operator angularly displaces shaft 8, and thus effects a; corresponding rotation of adjusting shaft J-with respect to drive shaft 6, it will be evident that diiferentiaf gearing system 3 will operate 'a well known manner to effect equal and opposite angular dis neemem's of bevel gears 5, 5 and propeller places I, 1, respectively. In this manner, therefore, the pitch of the propeller blades is manually controlled by rotation er control shaft a.

The above-mentioned adjustable gear train, which drives adjusting shaft 1 from drive shaft 6, is contained Within a main housing 9, which housing includes in its interiortwo sub-housings l and H, both of which house a differential gearing system designated generally at l2 and I13, respeetivew. Sub-housing H is fixed with respect to the main housing 9 by beingattached thereto on the right and 'by being additionally supported on the left by supporting member l4. Difierential gearing system l3 comprises vertically spaced bevel gears 15, I pivotally mounted in sub-housing II for rotation about a and har zchtauy spaced bevel gears l8, l6 pivetauy supported within housing If for rotation about a horizontal axis. Bevel gear [6 is iigiidly connecte to the previously messa e adjusting shaft 1, whereas bevel gear J'B is rigidly connected to an intermediate hollow shaft i1 falso'coaxial with respect a; drive shaft '5; lntermedia't'eshaft n is rotatively supported by a flanged bearing at the left of sub-housing ll.

Sub-housing l0, although normally stationary,

shaft 8.

nalled at its inner extremity by means of a bearin'g contained in a supporting member 20 which projects downwardly from main housing 9.

Differential gearing l2 comprises vertically spaced betel gears 2|, 2| which are pivotally mounted within sub-housing II] for rotation about a transverse axis, and horizontally spaced bevel gears 22'', 22 whiclrare rotatable about a horizontal axis. Bevel gear '22 is: rigidly connected to drive shaft 6', whereas bevel gear 22 is rigidly connected to intermedi'ate' shaft l1.

Before considering the operation of the adjustable gearing contained, within housing 9 in detail, it may first be helpful;.to outline generally the functions. of thevarious components of the system; Differential gearing I2 operates in the usual manner of; a differential with the angular displacement ofv drive, shaft 6 constituting one input, the angular displacement of drive shaft 8 constituting the other input, and the angular displacement of intermediate shaft l1 constituting the output; which output, of course, corresponds to the algebraic sum of the two inputs. Differential. gearing 13 operates merely as a reversing. earing since one of the normal inputs is held fast. Thus, the angular displacement of adjusting shaft I, whichconstitutes the output of dilferential gearing I3, is at all times exactly equal to, but in the opposite direction from, the angular displacement of intermediate shaft H, which constitutes the sole input to differential gearing l3.

. Considering now the detailed operation of the apparatus, it will first be assumed that adjusting shaft 8 is held stationary. It follows, then, under this conditiom that'housing lllis also held stationary; and differential gearing I2 also operates. merely as a reversing gear. Thus, drive shaft'fi operates through bevel gears 22-, 2|, 2|, and 22' to drive intermediate shaft I! at thev same speed as shaft 6,: but in an opposite direction. Similarly, intermediate shaft I1 operates through bevel gearing Hi, [5, l5, and [6' to drive adjusting shaft 1 atva speed equal and opposite to that "of intermediateshaft IT. Accordingly, adjusting shaft 1 'anddrive shaft 6 will rotate in the same direction and at equal speeds, that is, they will be stationary with respect to each other, and, as previously pointed out, they will cooperate to drive the propeller through differential gearing 3 at a corresponding speed.

Although the effect of rotationof control "shaft 8 will be the same regardless of the speed of rotation of drive shaft'fi', it may be somewhat easier to understand thisefiect under the condition that drive shaft'G is'stationary. This condition therefoi'e is temporaril 'ass'umea rcr purposes ofexplanatiim. 'Any "angular displacement of control "shaft '8 will beimmediat'el-y followed by a corresponding but sma'ller'displacement ofsub' housing 1 0 through the interaction of s'p'ur gear 19 and ring gear I8. As sub-housing", l rotates, it necessarily carries with .it bevel gears. 2|, 2|, which gears are also caused to rotate by reason of their engagement with bevel gear 22 which is attached to the stationary drive shaft 6. Rotation of bevel gears 2|, 2|v results in a corresponding rotation of bevel gear 22 and intermediate shaft IT. This, in turn, resultsin an equal but opposite rotation of adjusting shaft 1 through the reversing effect of differential gearing I3. Thus, it is seen that angular displacement of control shaft 8 effects a corresponding displacement of adjusting shaft 1 with respect to drive shaft 6. This will obviously be true irrespective of whether drive shaft 6 is stationary or rotating. As previously pointed out, any rotation of adjusting shaft 1 with respect to drive shaft 6 results in a variation of the pitch of the propeller blades. It will be apparent, therefore, that any desired propeller blade pitch can be obtained by suitable adjustment of the angular displacement of control shaft 8.

Referring again to Fig. 1, there is shown at the extreme left a convenient manner for manually controlling the angular displacement of control shaft 8, locking said shaft in position, and indicating the instantaneous pitch of the propeller blades. As shown, there is mounted on control shaft 8 a gear 23, which engages a gear 24, which, in turn, actuates a propeller pitch position indicator 21 located on the opposite side of the instrument panel 29. Position indicator 2'! has associated with it the usual dial (not shown) calibrated in terms of degrees propeller pitch. Control shaft 8 extends through the instrument panel 28, and is journalled in a bearing 26, which bearing has associated therewith a set screw 28 for locking control shaft 8 in position after the proper propeller pitch has been attained by manual movement of a crank 25.

Instead of employing set screw 28 to lock crank 25 in place, a worm drive could be incorporated in place of, or as a part of the gear train interconnecting crank 25 and sub-housing III. In such case, the worm would occur prior to the worm wheel in the drive from crank 25 to sub-housing l0. As is well known, such a worm drive would operate in a unidirectional manner, permitting rotation of sub-housing II] from crank 25 but preventing reverse actuation of the crank from the sub-housing. Also, it is contemplated that a hydraulic or electric power system could be employed to rotate sub-housing 10, if desired, instead of the direct manual drive shown.

There are several features of the above-described itch control apparatus which are especially noteworthy. For instance, it will be noted that a large number of the parts are standard and identical. Three standard differential gearing systems may be employed, each having four identical bevel gears. As is well known, bevel gearing is inherently rugged and well adapted to high speeds. Furthermore, the whole apparatus is essentially symmetrical with respect to, and mounted close in around, the main drive shaft, with the result that the apparatus is well balanced dynamically and has little tendency to vibrate. In this connection, it will be noted that the axes of spin of all normally rotating parts are either coincident with, or perpendicular to, the main drive shaft.

Referring now to Fig. 3, wherein there is illustrated a somewhat modified form of gearing arrangement for interconnecting drive shaft 6 and adjusting shaft 1 with the propeller blades I, l' and hub 2, it will be noted that this ar rangement differs from the corresponding portion of Fig. 1 in that bevel gear 4' is omitted and drive shaft 6 is rigidly attached to hub 2 rather than being journalled therein. In this case, drive shaft 6 drives the propeller directly and it carries. the whole load thereof, whereas in the apparatus of Fig. 1, the load is shared equally by drive shaft 6 and adjusting shaft 1. In the apparatus of Fig. 3, although adjusting shaft 1 still has anormal speed of rotation identical to that of drive shaft 6, it contributes no part of the driving torque for the propeller.

With respect to the effect of relative rotation of drive shaft 6 and adjusting shaft 1, the operation is identical to that described with respect to Fig. 1. Such relative rotation will result in relative rotation about a horizontal aXis of bevel gear 4 with respect to bevel gears 5, 5', which, in turn, necessarily results in equal and opposite rotations of bevel gears 5, 5, respectively, about an axis lengthwise of the propeller blades. Since bevel gears 5, 5 are rigidly connected to propeller blades I, I, respectively, a variation in the pitch of the propeller blades is thus obtained.

Since many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. In particular, it is desired to call attention to the fact that differential gearing I2, which operates as a true differential, and differential gearing l3, which operates simply as reversing gearing, may be interchanged as regards the order of their occurrence in the adjustable gear train interconnecting drive shaft 6 and adjusting shaft 1, without affecting, in any manner, the operation of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What is claimed is;

1. Variable pitch propeller mechanism comprising a drive shaft connected to be driven from the engine, an adjusting shaft coaxial with said drive shaft and rotatable with respect thereto, a propeller having a hub and blades pivotally mounted on said hub for rotation about a transverse axis, said hub having axially spaced bearings on opposite sides thereof, one of said bearings journalling said adjusting shaft and the other of said bearings journalling said drive shaft, a pair of axially spaced bevel gears disposed within said hub, one of said bevel gears being rigidly attached to said adjusting shaft and having a central aperture for accommodating said drive shaft, and the other of said bevel gears being rigidly attached to said drive shaft, a pair of transversely spaced bevel gears also disposed 'within said hub and engaging said axially spaced bevel gears, one of said transversely spaced bevel gears being rigidly attached to one propeller blade and the other of said transversely spaced bevel gears, being rigidly attached to the other of said propeller blades, and manually controllable adjusting gearing external to said hub adjustably interconnecting said drive shaft and said adjusting shaft.

2. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said last-mentioned means comprises two bevel type differential gearing systems each having two input elements and an output element, means connecting said drive shaft to one input element of the first of said systems, means connecting the output element ofsaid first system. to one input element of the second of said: systems, means connecting the output element of said second system to said adjusting shaft, means maintaining the: second input element; of one of said systems stationary and: means for manually controlling the second input elementof the other of said systems.

3. Variable pitch propeller mechanism comprising a drive shaft connected to be driven from the engine, an adjusting shaft. coaxial with said drive shaft and rotatable with respect thereto, a propeller having a hub; and blades pivotally mounted on said hub for rotation about a transverse axis, said hub having axially spaced bearings on opposite sides thereof, one of saidgbearings journalling said adjusting shaft and the other of said bearings journallingsaid drive shaft, a pair of axially spaced bevel gears disposed within said hub, one of said bevel gears beingrigidly attached to said adjusting shaft and having a central aperture for accommodating said drive shaft, and the other of said bevel gears being rigidly attached to said drive shaft, a pair of transversely spaced bevel gears also disposed within said hub and engaging said axially spaced bevel gears, one of said transversely spaced bev'el gears being rigidly attached to one propeller blade and the other of said transversely spaced bevel gears being rigidly attached to the other of said propeller blades, a main casing axially adjacent said propeller, said casing having at the engine side thereof a central journal accommodating an entering portion of said drive shaft and at the propeller side thereof a central journal simultaneously accommodating said adjusting shaft and an emergent portion of said drive shaft, two axially spaced bevel type differential gear assemblies mounted within said casing, each of said assemblies consisting of a housing containing a pair of spaced bevel gears coaxial with respect to said drive shaft and another pair of spaced bevel gears engaging said first pairand journalled in said housing for; rotation about a transverse axis, a rigid connection between said drive shaft. and, the first coaxial gear of the first; of' said. assemblies, a, rigid: connection between the; secondv coaxial gear of said first assembly and the first coaxial gear of the second of said assemblies, a rigid connection between the second coaxial gear of said second assembly and said adjusting shaft, means for rigidly supporting the housing of said second assembly from said casing, means for pivotally supporting the housing. of said first assembly for rotation about said. drive shaft, 2. control shaft ofiset with respect to. said drive shaft, a third journal in said main casing accommodating; said; control shaft, a ring ear integrally attached to the,- housing of said first, assembly, a spur gear attached to. said control shaft and engaging said ring. gear, and manually operable means external to. said main casing for rotating said controlshaft.

CARL J. GREEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are. of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1,431,382 Duerr Oct. 10, 1922 1,999,091 Ebert Apr. 23, 1935 2,224,640 Bonawit Dec. 10, 1940 2,239,739 Ruthset a1 Apr. 29, 1941 2,378,938 McCoy June 26, 1945 2,409,050 Ledwinka Oct. 8, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date.

22,325 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1905 381,648 Greatv Britain Oct. 13, 1932 726,918 France Mar. 15, 1932 771,686 France July 30, 1934 350,549 Italy 1937 

